Turkey will this year start the construction of a new waterway, called the "Canal İstanbul" which will run parallel to the Bosporus Strait, a project President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan once dubbed one of his "crazy projects."
"The project development was launched in August, 2017 ... Five variants of the route have been elaborated, but after the surface exploration we approved the route that would pass through İstanbul's districts of Küçükçekmece, Sazlıdere and Durusu. The length of the canal would comprise 45 kilometres (27.9 miles)," Turkish Transport Minister Ahmet Arslan said at a press conference, adding that the construction will be launched in 2018.
The minister noted that the project was considered to be the largest in Turkey, but the cost has so far not been calculated.
Some experts have warned the project risks wrecking the marine ecosystem and could also increase the risk of earthquakes in an area of high seismic activity.
The concept for the channel, which would link the Marmara Sea with the Black Sea, was initially presented in 2011 by then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
